Early One Morning
by a Fox and a Fawn
Summary: Buffy has moved on with her life since the destruction of Sunnydale, finding comfort with her friend Xander over their lost loves. Then early one morning she receives a phone call that changes everything.  Indefinite Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

It had become a ritual of sorts for Buffy Summers to sit at the edge of her bed after a night of patrolling, random music from the radio softly filling the room, and cry. She didn't sob and the tears were few, merely a small number of heavy droplets rolling down her face and onto her lap. But Buffy was far from a sad woman. In fact, she was happier than she had been since she had become the slayer in the first place—or at least, she should be. However she couldn't go to bed at night without thinking of those who had been lost along the way, those who she as the Slayer hadn't been able to protect. And it left her with a throbbing ache in her chest that she carried around with her throughout each day.

It didn't take long for construction to begin on the outskirts of the crater formerly known as Sunnydale. In the year since the Hellmouth had been destroyed, the area surrounding it had become a buzzing metropolis. One would think magic had been involved if they didn't know any better—actually, truth be told, magic was still probably involved. The Hellmouth may have been gone, but the legend surrounding it and the town it and its demons inhabited had only grown since its demise. The demons had similarly grown, although mostly just in numbers, giving Buffy the excuse she needed to rent a high-rise apartment in the new town of… well, they had just named the expanse of desert surrounding her former home Sunnydale.

"Well, Buffy, I guess not everyone can have your wit and originality," Xander had said at the official town naming ceremony.

Her best friend of the male variety had moved into the apartment across the hall from her and her younger sister. For the most part he was the same Xander as he had been since the two had met, but there was a new look in his eyes—er, eye. It was the physical representation of the sadness Buffy could sometimes hear in his voice. It was the look of someone who had not yet, and probably never would, recover from losing the love of his life. That common bond had pulled the two best friends into a deeper connection than they ever thought possible. Often they would spend the nights at each other's apartments, despite the closeness of their respective homes, one on a couch and one on a bed after a night of board games or movies. Other tenants in the apartment building had gathered that they were a couple—and they were. They were a couple of people who had lost something—someone—important to them in the biggest battle of their lives. One always knew how the other felt and when either of them were having a hard time coping, they knew that the other understood exactly how they felt. That bond… it was something.

It was so much of a something that after one of their movie nights, Buffy had found herself rising from the couch and scooting her bare feet across the carpet to his bedroom.

A small crack of light hit Xander's face and he shifted to see Buffy leaning against the doorframe. Her face was moist and the red, oversized jersey she wore to bed bore dark wet marks from her tears. He sighed as he lifted his sheets and comforter and patted the bare spot beside him. Her ponytail whipped from side to side as she made her way across the room and into his bed, facing away from him when she lied down. When the bed started to shake with her sobs he began to rub her shoulder, before pulling on it and turning her towards him. Buffy gave in, laying her head on his chest and sobbing with all of her slayer strength, forcing Xander to tighten the grip he had around her.

"Why?" she cried out. "I knew. I knew for so long and I didn't… I waited until it was too late."

"Shh," he whispered, "it's okay. It'll be okay."

"It hurts, Xander," she forced out, her voice raspy. "It isn't supposed to hurt this much, not after…"

"I know. I know, Buffy. I hurt, too. I hurt everyday and I don't know when it stops. I don't know if it ever does. But I know you have me, and you have Dawnie, and you have Willow and Giles and…," he paused, "he would be proud of you."

She let out a gasp for air and wiped at her eyes.

"Buffy, I wasn't too fond of the guy, but he loved you. Everything about you. He'd like that you still go out and patrol, even though there are thousands of other slayers in this world. He would like that you let Dawn go with you," he said with a chuckle.

Buffy let out a small laugh as well. "Yeah, he always saw her as stronger than I did. Tougher. He knew she had it in her."

She raised her head from his chest and looked upon his face. Her hand made its way softly across his cheek as she whispered, "Thank you."

* * *

Buffy was surprised when she opened the door to her apartment the next morning only to find Willow standing at the kitchen table unloading a box of donuts.

"Ooh. Yummy, sugary goodness," Buffy said excitedly as she reached out for an apple fritter. She stopped before the treat entered her mouth, looking confused. "Wait. How'd you get in here?"

"Duh, Buffy. I'm a witch. Locked doors, they don't got nothin' on me," she replied.

"Will…" Buffy said in her best 'stern mother' voice.

"Kidding, only kidding. Dawn let me in. Another night across the hall?"

"It's nothing. Just friends. He just… He knows how I feel."

"I know how you feel, too, Buff. But I don't see you getting all snuggly-wuggly with me on movie nights," Willow replied with a sheepish grin on her face.

"That's because Kennedy would kick my ass. And you'd enjoy it too much," she laughed. She quickly stopped laughing. "Wait. You don't think…?"

"That maybe he enjoys it a little too much, too?"

"No. No. He couldn't. Could he?"

"Buff, he did kinda have a thing for you all the way through… Well, I don't really know when it ended," she said, her eyes showing her drift into though. "I guess it was when Anya showed up."

"It's not totally crazy, you know. It kind of fits, us being together after everything. But right now he's more, you know, just comfortable. Like Mr. Gordo."

"He's… like a stuffed bear?" Willow asked slowly.

"Well, he has gotten kind of soft," she said. "By the way, how's the new place?"

"Ah, I see you're honing the slayer skill of changing the subject. Could use a little work," she laughed. "The house is… kinda roomy, actually. It's nice; it's just not what I expected. You know, me and her alone all of the time. Definitely a new kinda thing for us."

"You'll get used to it, Will," Buffy said.

The door opened to reveal a recently showered and dressed Xander, who quickly spotted the donuts and made a beeline for them. The two women watched him in amazement as he ate a powdered cruller in only two bites—still standing the entire time- something that would have been sort of impressive in a fray boy way had it not been for the fact that his black shirt now had a white bib of powder marring it.

"Hey Buff," he said, leaning over a chair to give her a peck on the head. "Will," he said, nodding to her.

"Hey there, teddy bear," Willow replied. "Oh. Heh. I rhymed."

Buffy began to relax, lifting her feet to place on Xander's lap when her eyes widened and her coffee almost spewed out of her mouth. "Dawn. It's time for school. Where is she?"

"Woah, momma bear," she said, laughing inwardly at her own inside joke. "Janice came by and picked her up before you got here."

"Oh. Well, in that case, I'm going to go use up the rest of the hot water. Excuse me," she said before getting up and leaving the room.

Wrapped only in a towel, a soaking wet Buffy sheepishly made her way to the door of her bedroom to peek into the living area. Xander had already left for work, leaving Willow lying on the couch watching the morning news shows. Buffy made her way to the closet, slightly relieved that Xander wasn't there. She pulled out a plain white t-shirt and had laid it on her bed when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Buffy? It's Angel. We need to talk."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I promise there will be Spuffy eventually. We'll just have to build up to it because we all know that Spike is good for building up some… er… tension. Please review and let me know how you're liking the story so far and, you know, just discuss what you'd like to see happen or rant about how there isn't an Spuffy yet. You know, whatever.


	2. Chapter 2

"Angel?" she repeated, a mixture of confusion and sadness lacing her voice. "What… what is it? Is something wrong?"

"That depends on what your definition of wrong is," he said, his voice fading as he turned from the phone to look at the person standing to his left. "Look, this isn't really something I should tell you over the phone. It's… Well, you kind of need to see it for yourself."

"Angel, just tell me. Signs of a future apocalypse? A strange demon you need my help with? Hair advice?"

"I have been thinking of switching up my style, but I don't know what else would work on me," he started. "Wait, no. More like the second option. A very strange demon."

"And you can't…," she began.

"No. I can't. I'll… We'll… See you at sundown."

"We'll? You're bringing strange demon thing to my house? We can't meet at one of your evil little office buildings?"

"You know about…?" he trailed off.

"Not the point, Angel. Tell me what is going on."

"Buffy, just trust me," he said before hanging up on her.

"Willow!"

* * *

"So they're bringing you a demon that even Wolfram and Hart didn't know how to deal with?" Willow asked as she pulled a couple of coffee mugs from the cabinet above her. "I mean, I guess you are the slayer."

"_A_ slayer, now," Buffy corrected. "Besides… To my house? He's bringing this thing to my house? What if it's slimy or chaotic or… pees on the seat?"

"Whoa. Do demons pee?"

"Will, not quite the direction I was going in."

"Sorry," she answered with a smirk, holding one of the steaming mugs in front of her friend. "So, do you think this is something we need to get the old gang together for?"

Buffy took the cup of coffee Willow offered her and blew the steam away from her before taking a sip. She stretched her legs out underneath the table and looked into the black liquid that rippled from her shaky grip. "What old gang?" she whispered, and began speaking again before Willow could answer. "Giles is in England, Anya is gone, Spike is…" her voice cracked.

"Oh, Buff," she sighed, coming to rest on her knees in front of Buffy before pulling her into a comforting hug. "Buffy."

* * *

"Guess what you guys? I got my cap and gown today!" Dawn squealed as she came through the door. Her smile faded quickly as she saw her blotchy-faced sister lying against Willow's body. She dropped her stuff by the door and rushed to Buffy's side. "Buffy, Willow… What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing, Dawnie. Everything's fine," Buffy said quietly as she raised herself into a sitting position. "Why don't you try on your cap and gown and show off for us? Gosh, it's so hard to believe you're all adult-y now. You know, with you only being a few years old and all."

"Hey, I think you mean thousands of years old… or something," she said as she hopped up from the couch and grabbed the plastic wrapped symbol of graduation. "Do I really have to put on the cap? I mean, not so much with the flattering."

"I'll give you a pass. Only a couple of weeks until I get to see you walk across the stage in that monstrosity anyway," she laughed, watching her younger sister pull the cap over her head and spin around in front of them.

"Oh, Dawn," Willow started, "you look so… so…" she couldn't finish her sentence. She and Buffy had broken into waves of laughter—the kind that caused them to bowl over onto each other and slap one another in an effort to communicate. When they would finally stop, one would let a small giggle escape and it would start all over again.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Thanks, guys."

Buffy took a moment to recollect herself. "Dawn, it's not… You look great," she managed to get out before the laughter started again. "Okay, so no one really looks amazing in those things. But here's a tip: Push the cap back on your head a little. It's what I did at my graduation."

"Yeah," Willow agreed, "and it looked great. You know, until the mayor turned into a giant snake and the hats kinda came off."

"Ah, the memories," Buffy sighed, looking up and off into the distance. "Don't worry, Dawnie. I'm sure your graduation will be reptile-free."

"Thanks to Spi—," she gasped and her widened eyes turned to look at her sister. "Buffy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

After a few seconds, the pained look faded from her face and she began to shake her head. "It's fine. Really. Um, hey, what do we want for dinner?"

* * *

The group of four—Willow, Dawn, Xander, and Buffy—sat around a table that was full of food. They sat in an awkward silence, each knowing why the amount of food before them could rival the pantry of a buffet restaurant. Sounds of clinking silverware against china filled the room until Dawn let out a soft chuckle. "Hey, you guys, we could start our own version of 'Stomp!' right now," she said before creating a beat with her fork and glass. The three others looked at her with slight smiles on their faces but did not join in. "Sorry," she said sarcastically, before stuffing her mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"So, Angel is bringing a demon over for dinner?" Xander asked.

"Well, I don't think we're exactly going to sit around and swap recipes, but yeah. Sort of," Buffy replied.

"And he thinks that is safe?" he started. "You know, I never really trust—,"

Buffy put her hand up. "Not now. Please," she said with pleading eyes. "Just… not today."

Xander gave her a knowing look and nodded before saying, "When is this thing supposed to get here? This thing as in the demon… The other demon, not Angel," he corrected when Buffy gave him a stern look.

"He just said sometime after sundown," she replied.

A knock at the door made her jump. She traded glances with the group—knowing glances, explaining without words that they needed to be on guard for whatever Angel had brought with him. She trusted the vampire, but he had a knack for leaving out valuable information or only telling her what he thought she needed to know—he was Mr. Mystery for the first few months she knew him and he hadn't strayed entirely too far from that moniker. Plus with his recent takeover of Wolfram and Hart… Let's just say Buffy wasn't completely ready to put her guard down around him just yet, despite their history.

"Okay, Angel, what kind of Hellbeast have you brought me and so help me if he pees on the seat," she said, opening the door.

"Nice to see you, too, Buff. About the bathroom habits… I don't know about the bladder action, but he does spend a while in front of the mirror. A little narcissist if you ask me," he said as he slowly moved to the side of the doorframe.

As his body moved to her left, the new body that took his place left Buffy with her mouth agape. She let her tearful eyes gaze at him, taking in every inch before attempting to decide if he was real or not. The boots, the jacket, the black t-shirt… Then you had the blindingly blonde hair and the piercing blue eyes—eyes that weren't without tears themselves, though they rolled at the emotion they were showing. Her hand reached out before her, placing itself on the chest of the figure standing before her. It clenched, feeling the coolness of his body—his hard, real body—underneath it. A sob escaped, shaking her body.

"Spike," she whispered.

His hand slowly made its way to hers, enveloping it tightly, before he whispered back, "Buffy."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took me a while to get this chapter up. The beginning of it just wouldn't come out for a while and I wasn't going to post anything that I didn't feel was at least par-worthy. I hope everyone enjoys it! Thank you all so much for all of the reviews so far! It honestly makes my day to see a review alert pop up in my e-mail, so keep them coming. To be honest, the reviews definitely keep me motivated to keep posting… so, you know, keep that in mind. Just post any thoughts at all you have—suggestions, criticisms, rants or raves... whatever. Until next time!


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